Trent Atkins was a top gay adult star in the early-aughts, a competitive swimmer and gymnast with a tight physique, buckets of onscreen charisma and a voracious sexual appetite that vaulted him to the upper echelons of the industry.
But nearly a decade ago, he abruptly walked away from an A-list career and disappeared off the map. Privately, Atkins battled drug addiction and worked on rehabbing his body and spirit.
I have grown in so many ways since I first started in 2000. After everything I have been through, I have a greater respect for people and life.
Several years after leaving Porn Valley behind, following a series of crushing physical setbacks, Atkins relocated from his home in Hawaii to Virginia Beach to work as a live-in caretaker and study massage therapy. He got sober on his own and refrained from sexual contact. After nearly three years of sobriety and celibacy, Atkins decided to take advantage of a popular hookup app, which led to a harrowing, life-threatening encounter that triggered his addictions and a dangerous downward spiral.
At the time, a former roommate was living in Baltimore and offered Atkins a place to stay under the condition that he enroll into an intensive drug and trauma treatment program.
“So I packed my stuff and moved to Baltimore [in] January [2019],” he recalls. “I immediately enrolled in a program and started counseling twice a week while also going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings once and sometimes twice a day. I took my life into my hands and started to rebuild everything that I had lost.”
Recently, with the rise of social media, Atkins quietly reentered the scene. Under the wing of Chi Chi LaRue, one of his first industry champions, he has dipped a toe back into the waters with Icon Male and Rocco Steele.
Atkins sat down with XBIZ to offer his unique perspective on adult stardom, addiction and mental health, and self-care in the digital age.
XBIZ: What was the span of your first run in adult?
Atkins: My first porn shoot was way back in 2000. I shot from 2000-2012.
XBIZ: Can you pick out some of your favorite moments from that run? Your licking the concrete wall in a sex club is a memorable one.
Atkins: Having been in the adult entertainment industry for almost 20 years now, I have had so many experiences. I'm not sure if I can pick just one moment. If you’re talking about licking the wall of the sex club — that’s [2003’s] “Resurrection” from Steve Scarborough and Hot House.
XBIZ: You were already notable but that scene really got the industry, and fans, talking about you.
Atkins: At that time, Hot House had turned a corner under Steve’s [leadership] and “Resurrection” really was a fantastic movie for that time. I was super-excited to be a part of it. Here I was, this young, blond-haired kid with braces that could take any dick you threw at me, and I was starring in this major movie for a giant studio. I was honored and so happy to do it. Getting to be the star of that film and later to be paired with stars who made gay porn what it is today like Ken Ryker, Aiden Shaw and Chad Hunt — I really was blessed to get to work with the best of the best and having Chi Chi LaRue be a part of many of my movies paved the way for a strong friendship and working relationship that I will cherish forever.
XBIZ: Talk about why you stepped away from adult.
Atkins: I had my first surgery in 2008 when I blew out my knee at gymnastics practice. After that I was prescribed a rather large amount of pain pills every month and was never given any information about how they could be addictive. I was prescribed 140 Percocet a month and the doctor never stopped prescribing them, so obviously over time my body became addicted to them. I was shooting some films in 2012 when a friend introduced me to Oxycontin and after that is when my addiction to painkillers really changed my life.
XBIZ: You’ve said, subconsciously, you knew you were addicted.
Atkins: The days when I didn't have them I was sick, and when I did have them I could work. I shot a movie for Men.com and a few others for some different studios — mind you, I have always had a tremendous working relationship with every company out there. Everyone can tell you that I show up on time, I do my job, I give you what you need, I don't cause trouble, I collect my check and go home. You could always count on me, but at this time I cancelled two shoots at the last minute because of my addiction and when that happened I made the decision to not take any more work that was offered to me. After awhile, people just stopped asking. I didn't want to be known or have a reputation as a drugged-out porn star so I quietly stepped away.
XBIZ: What did you do with your time away?
Atkins: From 2012 to 2016, I was living back home in Hawaii, trying to finish my economics degree at the University of Hawaii, and I came out of retirement for ten-meter platform diving to try and qualify for the Olympic Trials one last time. I was in the pool and the gym training hard and just as I was about ready to compete at the National Championships, the knee that I had blown out in 2008 started giving me major trouble. A few months later my right knee also started giving me trouble and I had to go to the doctor. I was eating pain pills like candy and nothing was helping. I had an MRI on both knees and found out that I needed ACL reconstruction on the left knee again and I also needed surgery in my right knee to repair an ACL tear and meniscus tear. At that point, I had a conversation with the surgeon about training and my future and he said that it was time to hang up the Speedos. I had so much damage in both knees that I needed to stop training. So I had three more knee surgeries in 2016 and I left the pool.
XBIZ: What brought you back to adult?
Atkins: During this time I was very vocal on Facebook and Twitter and posting everyday about my journey and struggle. Chi Chi was an amazing friend and support and we just started talking about me coming back to the industry. I thought it might be a good way to talk about my story and to help others in the industry who are struggling, too.
XBIZ: These issues are a big topic of discussion right now in adult.
Atkins: I spoke in great length with my counselors and therapists about coming back and ultimately I decided that if Chi Chi was going to be there that I would come back because he was really the only one I trusted at that point to take good care of me. I worked very hard to get my body back into porn shape and I knew that I had a lot to offer and I love porn and wanted to be a part of a fun project. We shot my first two scenes right before Christmas [2019] with Drew Sebastian and Nick Fitt. It was an amazing experience and everything couldn't have gone any better. I can't wait for everyone to see the final project.
XBIZ: You’ve clearly grown quite a bit as a person, and as a performer, from your first run in this industry.
Atkins: I have grown in so many ways since I first started in 2000. After everything I have been through, I have a greater respect for people and life. I treat each day as if it might be my last and I give 150 percent to everything I do. I still can't memorize lines to save my life but sexually I am more open, free and enjoy filming. When I was younger, I think I needed and wanted the validation that porn gave me but I don't need porn for that anymore. My life and what I have done validates me as a person and what I believe. Porn is a way for me to have sex with beautiful men, get paid and have fun. If I don't shoot any more scenes I would be completely happy. I don't need porn to tell me that I am important, but if the porn industry continues to want Trent Atkins, then I am all-in.
XBIZ: From a tech perspective, the industry now is a different world.
Atkins: The tech has certainly changed. People would never pay $89.95 anymore for a VHS or DVD box set now. The [concept] of a porn star has changed a lot. Nobody needs a studio to be famous anymore. Everyone has access to the consumer directly. If you have a phone and a computer you can hook up to sites like Chaturbate and beat your meat for money.
XBIZ: Today’s tech has really changed how people relate to porn and porn actors.
Atkins: Sexuality and the way gay men think of themselves now has changed. People are more open and willing to share everything about their lives on camera and people like that. Everyone is a voyeur now and people love to film their hookups, play dress-up in their leather and sports gear and sell it online. Porn actors [now] have the potential to make money that people never used to make. I don't think saying that you are an “exclusive” to a company carries the weight that it used to. It's all about how many “likes” and “followers” you have. No longer do people have to go to a movie release party or a bar appearance anymore to have access to porn models. All they have to do is connect to your Instagram or Twitter, slide in your DMS and a connection and a sale is made.
XBIZ: Will you begin producing your own content now?
Atkins: As of now, I do not have an OnlyFans account or JustFor.fans or any of that. I filmed some content with Rocco Steele [which] has yet to be released but other than that I don't know if “Trent Atkins” will be a part of that. Porn is not my source of income but something that I do because I enjoy it. Today I focus energy on working out, working on my sobriety, working on my massage practice and enjoying life.
Image source: Icon Male
